Thursday, January 8, 2009

More Stadium fallout, misuse of funds

This stuff just keeps coming, and I am glad it is because there's something woefully wrong about the way this whole thing has been handled. The behind-the-scenes, under-the-table deals between the Yanks and the City have been exposed for all their ugliness. And it just keeps coming:

More than a quarter of the $370 million in taxpayer financing in the Yankees' latest demand would go to shiny new toys like giant video screens and upgraded luxury suites, documents show.

Nearly $95 million is for "scope modifications" - items not in the team's original plan when it got $942 million in tax-exempt bonds via the city.
[...]
The Yankees' $95 million in extras includes $14.2 million for a scoreboard, $10.7million for a giant video board and $10.4 million in luxury suite upgrades.

The team wants more money to make room for two restaurants, a
New York Yankees Steakhouse and a Hard Rock Cafe.

"
It's terrific that they want to have a Hard Rock Cafe and a steakhouse there, but why should the taxpayer pay for that?" [Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, (D-Westchester)] asked.
Well said.

1 comment:

dinologic (Dean D) said...

Ugh. I almost DON'T want to know about this stuff. In fact, I just want to fast forward however many months necessary to bypass the demolition of the old stadium and get the transition overwith. It's just too damn painful.

As for the money being spent, here's a question - is any of it going towards improving the area AROUND the stadium? Aren't they planning some sort of "Yankee Village"? I think the taxpayer money would be better spent there rather than padding what promises to be already-ridiculous luxury suites.